CDOQ

How does increase in cultural homogenization affect self-identity? 

A snake charmer plays the music for the audience and not for the snake. 

Why do we do anything? Why do we want anything? What leads to our actions or inactions? What makes us social? Why do we compromise? Some say that human life is driven by fear. It is fascinating how society functions and how many variations there are of society.  However, the core of human nature is the same all over the world. In my observations, our social lives are highly influenced by three distinct fears -LLP:  1. Fear of L oneliness 2. Fear of Effort ( L aziness)  3. Fear of the Unknown ( P redictability)   Evolutionary biology tells us that a desire to procreate and to self-preserve dictate a lot of our behavior. I think the modern world is much more complex. Reliance on another human is being replaced by commercial goods and services. Time is our most limited resource and it is primarily consumed to earn money and/or to satisfy our senses. Is that all there is? Let's see how LLP plays a role in our daily social lives:  ...

Representation of human spirit?  But whether the visage we assume be a joyful or a sad one, in adopting and emphasizing it we define our sovereign temper. Henceforth, so long as we continue under the spell of this self-knowledge, we do not merely live but act; we compose and play our chosen character, we wear the buskin of deliberation, we defend and idealize our passions, we encourage ourselves eloquently to be what we are, devoted or scornful or careless or austere; we soliloquize (before an imaginary audience) and we wrap ourselves gracefully in the mantle of our inalienable part. So draped, we solicit applause and expect to die amid a universal hush. We profess to live up to the fine sentiments we have uttered, as we try to believe in the religion we profress. The greater our difficulties the greater our zeal. Under our published principles and plighted language we must assiduously hide all the inequalities of our mood and conduct, and this without hypocrisy, since our de...

A loss is shattering of an illusion. 

Can there be society without social conditioning?

Most of our lives are spent doing things that, we think, will enable us to do things we desire. 

Empathy is directly proportional to the frequency of misfortunes - Ralph Abraham  

The essence of everything is simple. Details give rise to complexity. 

Sometimes the most rational thing to do is to do what you feel. 

Last month, I was in Victoria, BC, to attend a workshop on Awareness based on teachings of my favorite philosopher, Krishnamurti (K). The workshop was held at the Krishnamurti Education Center of Canada . It is a beautiful and calm place, perfect for introspection. Following are my random notes from the workshop: 1. What drives our actions? The general understanding is that thought drives action. Hence, we try to control our thoughts with meditation. The idea is that if you control your thoughts then you will control your actions and if you control your actions then you will be happy. Everybody is looking for happiness and the cause for happiness or unhappiness is thought. However, K says that what you think is result of the state of your mind. And, the state of mind is influenced by one's unconscious. So what one thinks is caused by one's unconscious and thought becomes the effect and not the cause of one’s actions.   2. The Mind, which always wants to sati...

Don't try to figure out others. Understand yourself and everything will make sense. 

The most interesting things in life cannot be reduced to equations. 

What is the point of the point? 

Commitments are tested when better options become available. 

When the need is high, the expectations are higher. 

What is progress?

Loss is more memorable than gain. 

I wonder how life would be like if the law of diminishing marginal utility applied to our five senses.

I bought a smartphone to gain control over my life. The smartphone turned out to be so smart that it has gained control over me. 

A writer can make you see things that images can not. 

I am spinning in my orbit while circling in someone else's orbit. 

Our health, wealth, and happiness greatly depends on our ability to control our mouths. 

Confusion causes conflict. 

"When experience becomes a remembrance, that remembrance destroys creative understanding." - Krishnamurti

Even fiction that does not fit into our worldview, bothers us. 

Subjects are taught in generalities. Learned in universalities. Hence, not practiced contextually. 

When reality becomes too difficult, we create illusions to cope with it. 

On May 2nd, 2015, I was in Omaha to participate in my annual ritual of attending the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting. I like Warren Buffett and I absolutely adore Charlie Munger. Both are my heroes. They are full of wisdom and have shaped my thinking. 40,000 people standing in line to get into a shareholder meeting!  Following are highlights from the meeting: Human Behavior 1. For some reason, no-haggling business breaks down after a while. People say that they don’t like to negotiate but they like getting a deal especially on big-ticket items. 2. “If people were not often wrong, we would not be so rich.” – Munger 3. There is no formula for buying businesses. Do business with people you trust. 4. When ego is involved people tend to do things that they are not supposed to do. 5. Jack Ringwalt, former CEO of National Indemnity, used to yell at his subordinate every time he brought the news of claims to be paid. The subordinate did not like to be yel...